Friday, 11 April 2014

Cost: Starters range from £4.90 to £15.50,
main courses from £8.90 to £28.50, desserts are £6.90.

About: Opened in 2013, Gogi (Korean for
'meat') is on the busy Edgware Road, next to the Regent's Canal, and more or
less opposite London's only Burmese restaurant Mandalay (reviewed here).

It is
open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, and it aims to serve authentic Korean
meats and seafood, barbecued at your table, as well as a range of Korean staple
dishes. It has a modern setting of bare brick walls, decorated in part by
antique wood panels, as well as stainless steel extractor hoods over each table
in an authentic Korean style I recognised from dining in Seoul.

Lighting is
low, soothing, and much of it comes from cleverly concealed red strip lights.
Large glass windows help to soak up the atmosphere from leafy Little Venice,
making it also a great place for people watching.

What We Ate:As regular readers of this site will know, I
am always on the lookout for good steak tartare, so I could not resist the Yuk
Hwe (Korean steak tartare, £12.00). Gogi's version combined thinly shredded raw
beef seasoned with sesame oil, served with julienned pear and an egg yolk.This was a great start to our meal – it was
fresh, well seasoned and with a refreshing crunch from the pear.

We had side dishes of Modum Kimchi
(assorted cabbage, radish and cucumber kimchi, £5.90) and Modum Namul (spinach,
radish, courgette and mushroom seasoned with garlic and sesame oil, £5.90),
both of which were refreshing and palate cleansing.

To follow, we had Yang Yeum Chicken
(£8.50); this was battered and deep fried, and served with a sweet chilli
sauce.This was disappointing - the
sauce was gloopy and sweet and not spicy enough for my taste, while the batter
was excessively thick, making up about 50% of each bite, and not very crispy.
This is one of my favourite Korean dishes, and one I always order.

Next we had a Korean grilled barbeque,
choosing the 'L.A. Galbi' (£9.90). This consisted of two slivers of beef ribs
on the bone, which was barbecued on the grill set into our table.

In my opinion
the quantity of beef was meagre given the price tag and considering that more
than half of it was bone. We ate the ribs with a dipping sauce, wrapped up in
fresh lettuce leaves with carrots and cucumber for an extra £3.50.

More successful was the Chicken Dolsot
Bibimbap (£12.50). This Korean classic, served in an eartheware pot, comes with
rice, sautéed seasoned vegetables, raw egg yolk and red chilli paste, the whole
lot being mixed together at the table. It is one of my favourite Korean dishes,
and Gogi's was excellent.

To finish our meal, we shared a portion of
Tteok and Soojeaonggwa. This is a Korean rice cake, with a chilled cinnamon
drink (£6.90). The rice cake was very much like a Japanese mochi, and had a
delicious, intensely chocolate-flavoured mousse inside. I loved it. Even better
was the Soojeaonggwa. This is a traditional Korean fruit punch, made from dried
persimmons, cinnamon and ginger, garnished with pine nuts. It was my first time
tasting this drink, but I'm a sucker for anything with cinnamon, and I savoured
every drop.

What We Drank: We shared a bottle of
Chianti Riserva 2009, Teuzzo, from Cecchi (£25.50). This was eminently
quaffable and fruit-driven, without showing much complexity. The restaurant
also serves a full range of cocktails, many given a Korean twist.

Likes: The setting is atmospheric, and the
staff friendly and helpful with advice on ordering, grilling and even eating
some of the more complex dishes. Some of the dishes were excellent, including
the Korean steak tartare, the Bibimbap and the Korean rice cake (Tteok).

Dislikes: While we loved the dessert,
cinnamon drink and bibimbap, we felt that the Koren BBQ offered was a tad
disappointing as was the not so crispy Yang Yeum chicken.

Verdict: A good local Korean restaurant for
Little Venice and Maida Vale with some excellent dishes and great service.
Recommended.

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Born in Brazil to Japanese and Italian parents, educated in the UK, a true Londoner. Former investment banker turned Cordon Bleu trained chef, food, wine and travel writer, Japanophile and Supper Club host in Islington.

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